01/15/2024
“The image of God” is universally shared in equal portions by all men. There is no graded scale of essential worth. Every human being has etched in his personality the indelible stamp of the Creator. Every man must be respected because God loves him. The worth of an individual does not lie in the measure of his intellect, his racial origin or his social position. Human worth lies in relatedness to God. An individual has value because he has value to God. Whenever this is recognized, “whiteness” and “blackness” pass away as determinants in a relationship and “son” and “brother” are substituted. Immanuel Kant said that “all men must be treated as ends and never as mere means.” The immorality of segregation is that it treats men as means rather than ends, and thereby reduces them to things rather than persons.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
